The dramatically rising energy prices have enormously boosted interest in sustainable energy savings and, with it, in the passathon – RACE FOR FUTURE this year. Through 608 lighthouses, cyclists get an impressive glimpse of how energy consumption can be reduced by up to 90 per cent while simultaneously increasing comfort. This saves a great deal of money and makes energy independence from Russia possible, as well as achieving climate neutrality by 2040. After 10 weeks, participants have already cycled to
12,000 passathon lighthouses across Austria — buildings distinguished by their exemplary energy-saving and climate-friendly construction standards. This means interest has doubled compared to last year.

Energy consumption down – comfort up
Every day brings fresh bad news about rising energy prices, and there's ongoing debate about how this cost explosion and the threat of energy poverty can be cushioned for the population. However, as long as energy consumption isn't significantly reduced without a loss of comfort, the underlying problem won't change. In Austria, 30 per cent of final energy consumption goes towards heating, hot water, and cooling. New buildings constructed since 2010 alone require an increased energy consumption of 3.5 TWh per year — due to far too
lax energy efficiency guidelines — which is equivalent to the entire gas consumption of the federal states of Burgenland and Vorarlberg combined.

Read the press report here: Press report!